Pushing in a new direction through electronics and synths on his latest record, Harry Styles is playing in new worlds on his latest record. Though perhaps not always as fully rich as some of his inspirational points, Styles has fun taking many antics in a new direction with his own aesthetics and attitude on top. A Sound of Silver era gloss touches “Aperture” in its building and expansive range of instruments with Styles fully living up to his claim about pulling from LCD Soundsystem, as Styles crafts a beast of a track that is always reaching further rather than simply hitting a typical verse-chorus chug. There’s a bright and sunny wave of pianos swinging on “American Girls,” with Styles in a glowing and bass-churning walk, letting the mood and rhythm explode everything else out and craft a bigger drop as a result. The bass keeps cutting like a dagger on “Ready, Steady, Go!”, as neon guitars and crunchy, blown-out guitar rip sends every chorus into a kicking frenzy. The mix of DFA and straight disco makes “Dance No More” feel alive in its collision of dance genre flavours, with Styles suave and seductive lyricism making the track a kind of sultry animal.
With an unabashed approach to their music, Cootie Catcher craft a sound that’s pop and punk but definitely not “pop-punk.” It’s classic Toronto rock with a noisy haze, playful production and performances, rotating vocals, and a sense of free-flowing insanity that you just don’t hear anywhere else. The crossroads of indie punk and pop are bright on “Loiter for the Love of It,” as the song applies a mesmerizing blend of atypical and sometimes discordant tones amidst a barrage of sharp, catchy layers to leave you lost in the mélange. “Straight Drop” takes that rushing rock approach and supports it with bubbling synths and grinding guitars that never feel too harsh, nonetheless bringing a kind of playful character to their tones. This whole blender of sounds hits its apex on “Quarter Note Rock,” as their aesthetic is a more subtle and arranged collage, with the sublime pop cloud this song wraps around you, and transports you to heaven. The most ambitious take comes in the stop-and-start charge of “Puzzle Pop,” as they also go from quiet to overblown on a dime, with so many small edits to drive up the chaos that you will be smiling at their fearlessness.
Always one to be blunt while bringing an art-rock edge to her approach, Mitski is fully comfortable in a range of sounds now. With a record personal and always shifting, she creates something undoubtedly for the fans, but full of amazing textures and stories to push her craft forward. “Where’s My Phone” brings a massive range of theatrics into the mix, with drums booming, bullets whizzing by, and Mitski singing in a daze that makes you feel like you’re stumbling and dodging burnouts at every turn. There’s a more classic crooning push on “Cats,” with a bit of slow, twangy warmth leaving room for the brass and intangible keys to colour the song’s deeper emotions. “If I Leave” is a jagged and tense listen, slowly knocking you off kilter in its weird wobbles, and then crashing through like a fiery wrecking ball to let you feel that unhinged rage just for one shining moment! Mitski shifts into a touch of jazzy charm on “I’ll Change for You,” even harkening back to the Carpenters in the process. The track’s more open mix of sounds from daily life and a symphonic run of arrangements makes you feel like you’re listening to a movie, without actually needing to see the pictures to make sense of it.
Mixing her DIY roots with the pop finesse of her years in the industry, MØ returns as her most authentic self on “Hunnybån.” The track goes loud and brash, feeling like a celebration of her days in Mor, while throwing out a dozen brilliant hooks under all the distortion, in a way that rewards repeat listens like digging for gems. This just enhances the childlike fun of the track, and lets those truly violent percussive slaps hit like bullets in the mix. “Fine Curls,” alternatively, keeps a steady, subdued hand, slowly building out its emotional core until its choruses are ready to burst. The contrast between this sombre drive and a more riding EDM high is amazing, to the point it’s borderline shocking that MØ doesn’t even explode it out just the once to let it all out.
Blending hardcore elements with a range of noise, classic punk and other elements, Grail Guard may fit around hardcore, but they certainly hold broader sonic appeal than that banner would normally offer on its surface. Ticking all the breakneck and thrashing boxes you want, while hammering political commentary and satisfying melodic switches, this band is bringing something new to the genre, and letting the U.K. show why it lays claims to punk history, and easily many claims to its future. There’s something harsh yet tantalising to “People Just Like You” that keeps you death-gripped to its blistering ride, with the band’s mounting slam of gritty rock sending you into a frenzy. “Our Streets” dissects hate towards immigrants and how often a country will celebrate as quickly as it hate, all amidst a very colourful range of guitars to charge their message home. Meanwhile, the fiery charge of “Cruel Britannia” riots against the bloody and destructive history of the United Kingdom, and the lie it still tries to pedal in the name of “unity.” “Anxieties” holds nothing back in its finessed, all cannons firing sound, creating a wall of death and destruction to paint the mental picture of a brain on fire and unable to calm down.
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